The Expert Working GroupA joint statement reflecting on the agreed text of the Global Compact for Migration, published by members of the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

The Expert Group for addressing women's human rights in the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, is composed of individual experts from UN human rights treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders, UN agencies, civil society organizations and academic institutions. It was establishes in 2017 to help ensure that the rights of the estimated 120 million migrant women and girls around the world are fully promoted and protected in the creation and implementation of the Global Compact for Migration. UN Women serves as the substantive Secretariat of the Expert Working Group. Read more.

The GCMGender Series, presented by the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the Global Compact for Migration, aims to provide governments and other key stakeholders with clear and concrete guidance on ensuring that the human rights of all women and girls in migration are at the core of the Global Compact for Migration. Issue 1 of this guidance note series addresses the need for the development and implementation of gender-responsive migration policies in accordance with international human rights frameworks. Read more.

Issue 2: STEPS FOR ENSURING A GENDER-RESPONSIVE ACCESS TO SERVICES TO JUSTICE IN THE GLOBAL COMPACT FOR MIGRATION

The GCMGender Series, presented by the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the Global Compact for Migration, aims to provide governments and other key stakeholders with clear and concrete guidance on ensuring that the human rights of all women and girls in migration are at the core of the Global Compact for Migration. Issue 2 of this guidance note series addresses the need for ensuring gender-responsive access to services and justice in the Global Compact for Migration, as outlined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Read more.

Issue 3: GENDER-RESPONSIVE APPROACH FOR PROMOTING AND PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN MIGRATION

The GCMGender Series, presented by the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the Global Compact for Migration, aims to provide governments and other key stakeholders with clear and concrete guidance on ensuring that the human rights of all women and girls in migration are at the core of the Global Compact for Migration. Issue 3 of this guidance note series addresses the need for ensuring a gender-responsive approach to promoting and protecting the human rights of children and families at all stages of migration. Read more.

The GCMGender Series, presented by the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the Global Compact for Migration, aims to provide governments and other key stakeholders with clear and concrete guidance on ensuring that the human rights of all women and girls in migration are at the core of the Global Compact for Migration. Issue 4 of this guidance note series provides guidance on how to ensure that the human rights, including labour rights, of women migrant workers are fully protected and promoted, whether working in the formal or informal economy. Read more.

The GCMGender Series, presented by the Expert Working Group for addressing women's human rights in the Global Compact for Migration, aims to provide governments and other key stakeholders with clear and concrete guidance on ensuring that the human rights of all women and girls in migration are at the core of the Global Compact for Migration. Issue 5 outlines the key actions that should be taken to ensure that the implementation of the GCM is gender-responsive, including follow-up and review processes. Read more.

EXPERT WORKING GROUP

About the group

The Expert Working Group (EWG) on Addressing Women’s Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration is comprised of experts from human rights treaty bodies, Special Procedures mandate holders, national human rights institutions, UN agencies, civil society organizations and academia. The idea for the Expert Working Group was born during a multi-stakeholder meeting in New York which UN Women hosted in January 2017, with the objective of developing strategies for addressing women’s human rights in the Global Compact for Migration (GCM). The main outcome of this meeting was a joint action plan which encompassed the establishment of the Expert Working Group and an endorsement of UN Women’s leading role in promoting the human rights of women and girls in migration.

The group was tasked with mobilizing support for the development of a gender-responsive GCM, which was achieved through strategic advocacy, expert engagement, and capacity building. Thefinal text of the Global Compact for Migration – adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018 – includes human rights-based and gender-responsive approaches as cross-cutting and interdependent guiding principles. Since the adoption of the GCM, the EWG is focused on promoting the gender-responsive implementation of the GCM by supporting Member States in operationalizing the human rights-based and gender-responsive approaches outlined in the guiding principles of the GCM.

How will it achieve this?

Given the breadth of global expertise on gender and migration among the members of the EWG, the group is well equipped to engage in strategic advocacy at the global and regional levels and to provide advisory support to Member States and other relevant stakeholders on gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive implementation of the GCM, as well as the design and implementation of migration policies and programs that promote the human rights of migrant women and girls. The EWG is also well placed to play a role in the new UN Migration Network, particularly to ensure that relevant working groups advance gender equality.

In pursuit of these aims, the Expert Working Group seeks to carry out the following activities:

Conduct virtual Expert Working Group meetings every 4-6 weeks;

Organize and participate in side events during key global meetings, with a specific focus on national and regional dialogues around migration;

Contribute to inter-agency processes, including the UN Migration Network;

Develop guidance notes analysing and addressing challenges and strategies for supporting gender-responsive implementation of the GCM;

Finalize and disseminate the Policies and Practice Guide for Gender-Responsive Implementation of the Global Compact for Migration.

Who are the members of the Expert Working Group?

The Expert Working Group is composed of individual experts from the following institutions:

Relevant human rights treaty bodies:

Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Special Procedures mandate holders:

Working group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice

Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants

UN agencies

International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Civil Society Organisations:

Women in Migration Network (WIMN)

NGO Committee on Migration

Humanity and Inclusion (HI)

Academia:

International Migration Research Centre (IMRC)

Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)

UN Women acts as the substantive Secretariat for the Expert Working Group, and the group is co-chaired by the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on a rotational basis.

All members of the Expert Working Group are representing in their individual capacity as thematic experts and not necessarily on behalf of the organisation or agency to which they are affiliated.